Life Must Go On
by jolycassy
Summary: When Hermione and Draco are thrown into a partnership, will they be jerks to each other, or become very close? Slightly AU, During an 8th, year at Hogwarts.
1. Peace at the Burrows

**Chp 1: Peace at the Burrows, and in the Magical world**

Hermione had been living at the burrows for the last month. After the war had ended and every injured people were brought back to normal, she had gone to Australia to bring her parents back. She had modified their memory back to normal and explained why she did what she did. Although they were slightly mad at her, they forgave her because they were really understanding and knew she had their best interest at heart. She had spent some time with them before going to the burrows to see Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

Life wasn't as simple as one would have thought at the burrows. Within the first week of being back with her friends, Hermione and Ron had gotten into a huge argument and realized they weren't meant for each other. They had both been mad for a few weeks, Hermione talking to Ginny about her problems and Ron to Harry. Both Harry and Ginny had felt very weird about this tension in the house, but when Ron and Hermione had been stuck together in the chicken shed, they had gotten over their anger and realized they still cared about each other, just not in a boyfriend/girlfriend sort of way.

So life was back to normal at the burrows, or as normal as it can be when you are part of the Golden Trio, and you live with "The-boy-who-defeated-you-know-who", as they now called him in every newspaper. Journalists were apparating left and right from all over the magical world to come talk to Harry Potter and His accomplices. Although it had finally calmed down a little, there had been a time when Arthur Weasley had needed to modify some muggles mind in the village because they had been wondering what the chaos had been about.

The most popular question reporters asked Hermione was: "So, where do you go from here?" Hermione didn't know; she really wanted to obtain her N.E.W.T.s but the school wasn't even sure it was reopening this year because of all the damage and fresh wounds that it had faced. And even if it opened, would they allow people who had skipped a year to go back and finish school? So often she told the reporters that she would look for a job where she could use her skills. If they persisted, she told them she'd like to be a librarian, all walked away slightly disappointed by the lack of danger that involved, but the answer was accepted.

Although Hermione was not against being a librarian, she did believe it would be too boring for her. For once in her life, she did not have a plan. She could only hope a miracle would happen and tell her what to do next. She wanted this miracle to happen soon because the thought of emptiness both scared her and frustrated her.

Today, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny had decided to go a visit Luna Lovegood, who lived on a hill not far from the Burrows. The problem was getting there. They were all of age to apparate, but Mrs. Weasley had not wanted them to do that because she still considered Ginny to be too young and argued that there were other ways of locomotion.

"We could take the car my parents gave me," Hermione proposed. She had brought it with her because she wanted to show Ron and Harry. Harry had been impressed but Ron was unsure of what to think since he had only had the Ford Anglia, and that had been a disaster.

"That's a great idea," Ginny answered going towards the red SUV.

"Ok, I'll go get my keys," Hermione said and left.

When she came back, they all got in the car and drove away.

"The inside is smaller than I thought," said Ginny.

"That's because you've only been in a car that was magically enlarged," explained Harry, grabbing Ginny's hand. The two of them had been going out since about a week after the Final Battle, and they have been happy since then. Although Ron was not very happy when Harry displayed too much affection towards Ginny in front of him, he had accepted that they were together.

The car ride took about forty minutes since there was a lot of traffic, but they finally arrived at Luna's house. They parked next to the front door and got out of the car. They were about to knock at the door when it opened and Luna stood there in a lime green dress that seemed to be made out of some type of plant.

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed. "How did you know we were here?"

"I didn't but I saw a giant red animal running up the hill and I wanted to see it." She answered.

The four others laughed and Hermione explained it was a car.

"Umm. Interesting. I've never seen one come towards here before," Luna said. "Want to come in, the house is almost completely fixed and Dad has been wanting to apologies for what he did to you Harry back when I was kidnapped."

"He doesn't have to apologies, I completely understand why he did that, and I'm glad we got you out of that awful dungeon in the Malfoy Manor," Harry replied.

The rest of the day went by normally, well normally for Luna, slightly odd for the rest of them. They revisited the lighthouse like house and saw that the top had completely been collapsed, although it was almost back to perfect.

"So have you talked to anyone from school yet?" Ginny asked Luna.

Luna gazed thoughtfully out of the window before nodding, " Yes, Neville came to visit me last week, we went on a picnic. He's really sweet you know. He brought me a bag of duncidia, a very rare invisible animal that hide inside plums, although when I told him what they were he looked at me surprised as if he didn't know what they were."

The four other teenagers looked at each other trying to keep a straight face and imagining Neville's reaction when Luna told him what she believed his bag of plums really was.

"You two are holding hands" Luna said pointing at Harry and Ginny, "and you are not" she continued looking at Ron and Hermione.

Hermione was very embarrassed that Luna had asked like that, but it was Luna, so she was bound to be straightforward. Before she was able to answer Ginny simply stated " Harry and I are together, and Ron and Hermione are not." Hermione thought that would have been obvious, but Luna nodded looking slightly surprised- Hermione thought she always did- then look back out the window.

The four of them discussed their lives since the Final Battle and how everything had been different, slightly more peaceful.

Soon they came to the subject of Hogwarts, and it was simply stated that all five of them wished it was reopen. Although Hermione was the only one to admit it at loud, and she wasn't ashamed of it, they all wanted to go back and finish their schooling and obtain their N.E.W.T.s.

After that the afternoon passed way too quickly and it was soon time for Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny to go back to the Burrows.

All four said goodnight to Luna, climbed back in the car, and drove back to the Burrows.

When they arrived near the front of the house, it was almost dark outside, but they were not expecting all the excited noise that was happening inside the yard and the house.


	2. Discoveries and Good news

**Chp. 2: Discoveries and Good news**

Draco Malfoy was sitting on his bed, bored out of his mind. He had absolutely nothing to do. It was summer time, he had considered getting some sort of job just to do something, but after all, a Malfoy does not go that low in society.

Even though the Malfoys were death eaters, they had switched sides before the end of the war. Harry Potter had confirmed this and even talked on their behalf to the Wizgamot stating that without Narcissa, He would most certainly be dead.

Although he hated to admit it, Draco was grateful that Potter had done that. _He still shouldn't expect sympathy from me, _Draco thought to himself.

The Malfoy name, although not looked down upon, certainly did not retain all its grandeur. It is true that they still had tons of Galleons at Gringotts, but they weren't as well respected, or feared as some would say, as they were before. Being a Malfoy now felt as common as being a Smith or a Johnson, yet his father still acted like nothing had changed; Draco hated that. He hated that his father would not act different, but he also hated how he was not given special attention anymore, like it used to be. The Malfoy name used to instigate fear to people, and brought respect. Draco was glad that the "Death Eater" part of the name was gone, but he believed that because he had the money, and he was a pureblood, he should still be above _mundane_ people, as he called them in his head.

As he lay on his bed, he wondered what he would do with his life. A year ago it was all planned out, he was supposed to follow his father's footsteps and help the Dark Lord, and although he had to admit that it was definitely something he did not enjoy doing, he didn't have to think about his future as it was all traced out. Now he had nothing to look forward to, no traced path. He had not even finished his magical education.

Down deep he wanted to go back to school although he would never admit it to anyone. _I don't want to sound like that mudblood Granger_. Even though the war was over, he still called her mudblood out of habit. Draco Malfoy did not like the trio at all, but he knew it wasn't because they fought against the dark side, but simply because they were Gryffindors. What he felt wasn't real hate, just high dislike. He didn't want to hurt them too badly, but he certainly would never want to befriend them. He was a Slytherin after all and Serpents and Lions don't mix.

Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were standing in the yard of the Burrows all with their jaws falling to the floor. They could not believe what they were seeing.

None other than Dumbledore and Severus Snape were standing in the small crowded living room of the Burrows.

"This can't be real," Harry said.

"I know, it's impossible," replied Hermione.

"They are both dead!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Maybe they're ghosts," Ron proposed.

"They can't be, look! They are not transparent."

"Plus Dumbledore would never come back as a ghost," Harry explained.

They all looked at each other before quickly walking to the kitchen.

When the four of them walk in, all the people turned to look at them. Dumbledore watched them with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm so proud of the three of you," he said looking at the Golden Trio.

"Thanks professor…but what are you doing here, you're dead! You're both dead!" confusion in his voice, with his eyes shifting between Dumbledore and Snape.

"We just asked them the same thing," said Arthur Weasley.

"I think it is time we tell our tale… Severus, will you start?" Dumbledore questioned, looking towards Snape.

He looked around all the curious faces, and started his story:

"_The day the Dark Lord realized he needed the Elder's wand, or so he thought, I knew that he would eventually think that he had to kill me, even if hadn't realized it yet. I knew the wand's story since Albus had told me, and I knew I was not the owner of it either. Of course, how was I to prevent my death without causing the death of Draco, I wasn't sure at the time. I wasn't sure when or how he would kill me, but I had my suspicions. I knew the Dark Lord only killed someone if he knew them to be important enough. He already had plans to kill you, Potter,"_ the name was full of bitterness when he said it, but when he looked at Harry, Hermione did not see the usual loathing in his eyes.

"_So I suspected that he wouldn't waste his energy on me. I also suspected he wouldn't make another Death Eater kill me since then they would hypothetically be the owner of the wand. Luckily I guess right in thinking he would tell Nagini to kill me._

"_Because I thought this, I had prepared an antivenin potion that would make me appear to be death for a few hours until I woke up like nothing happen."_

At this point Hermione was vaguely reminded on _Romeo and Juliette_, a muggle play she had read a few years back for fun.

"_So when I woke up, the war was already over, and the Dark Lord defeated. I would have made the potion less strong had I known that he would wait until the last moment to try and kill me. The Dark Lord is usually not so slow at figuring things out and should have had me killed at least a few hours if not a few days prior. When I took the potion, I knew it would be too strong, but I had no other choice than take it._

_I'm sorry I wasn't there, but I think it went pretty well seeing that Lord Voldemort has been defeated."_

All were silent in the room. No one wanted to believe what they were hearing. Hermione was wondering if this was real. She knew such potions existed since she had read about them in a library book last year, but the potion was extremely advanced. She brushed the thought off, since after all, it was Snape that had conjured it, and he was _The Half-Blood Prince_, better than her at potions.

Hermione saw Dumbledore smiling at Snape and she waited to the rest of the group in the Burrows to process the information. She was very anxious to hear the rest of the story.

"I think I'll take over from now, shall I?" Dumbledore asked looking around the room with his piercing blue eyes.

Hermione quickly nodded, and realized she wasn't the only one to do so. She felt like nothing had changed with Dumbledore, he was still the same man she had known.

"_As you all know now, we knew of Mr. Malfoy's mission, and Severus and I had a plan. It was very risky but we knew it would work. Severus was to practice casting a floating charm on me while saying the killing curse. This required high skills and concentration from his part, and I am glad he succeeded. I was to be hit with this curse, and fall backward while slowly falling to the ground. There I was supposed to transform an object into me, well a non-living me, at leave the spot as quickly as possible. This was some difficult part of transfiguration, but luckily, it worked. When I left the castle, to go into hiding, I was still helping Severus who was the only one who knew of this. I was also trying to regenerate my dying hand, which did take energy, and once again I succeeded?" _He pulled back his sleeve, and Hermione was surprised to see his hand back to normal.

"This war is now over, so let's discuss some good news," Dumbledore said cheerfully. Hermione wondered what could be better news than knowing they were alive.

"The school will now re-open and allow any student who did not complete, or feel they have not learned enough, to re-take the year that was affected because of the war."

Hermione could not believe her ears. She would be allowed to finish Hogwarts, and she would be going back to school and learning. Nothing could be better than that. She had missed Hogwarts so much and was slightly depressed she didn't graduate, so this new was a miracle to her.

She glanced at Ron, Harry, and Ginny, and could tell they were happy life was going back to normal, and that they would return to Hogwarts, although they didn't seem as happy as her.

"The owls will arrive within the next week, explaining everything, and school will start once again on September the first. The School was cleaned up, and rebuilt, so the damages that the war made are all gone," explained Dumbledore to his pupils and the rest of the Weasleys.

The end of the summer arrived fast, and before she knew it, Hermione was sitting on the Hogwarts express with her best friends. In the letter that she received, there was a note saying that this year would not have any Head Boy or Girl, since everyone still needed to re-adjust to life at Hogwarts. Of course she was re-instated as prefect, but the meeting would be run by the head of houses. Her, Ron, Harry, and Ginny had gotten their books the week before at Diagon alley, which was much more alive than the last time she had gone. Olivander was back selling wands, and thanks them immensely when they went to visit him. Fred and George's joke shop was still working better than before, and the twins were happier than ever. All the stores on the cobbled road were open again, and there were no more posters of free Death Eater. Hermione had known that life would go on after seeing how Diagon alley had recovered.

The train ride went by quickly with all the friends who came back. Hermione saw all the people she hadn't seen in a long time, some even more than a year, and she was pleased to see that most had not changed too much, just had been forced to grow up faster. Luna was still Luna; Neville, although he had lost weight, was cheerful once again; Dean and Seamus were still friends. Hermione was surprised to realize that she was even happy to see Parvati and Lavender, her roommates.

They arrived at Hogwarts in no time, and faster than she could remember, she was in her bed falling asleep before the first day of class of her final year.

**AN: Hopefully this was better than my first chapter. Please leave a review if you have the time.**


	3. Calix Capax

**Chp. 3:**

**Calix Capax**

Hermione woke up the next morning, which happened to be Monday, extremely happy to be back, and slightly nervous that she might have forgotten everything in the year she had not gone to school. Of course she had read all of her books, twice, but she couldn't help feel slightly panicked, but exited none the less.

She got out of bed, went to take a shower, and went down to the Gryffindor common room to meet up with Ron and Harry.

When they got down to the Great Hall for breakfast, the trio sat at their usual seat on the Gryffindor table, but noticed that a few of the other students were mixed, mostly Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff moved. Hermione noticed that no Gryffindor went to the Slytherin table, and vice versa. She surveyed the tables to see who had come back, and she noticed that quite a few Slytherins had come back, a fact she did not expect. She noticed that Malfoy was there, and so were Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. There were a few others she recognized by face, but had never bothered to learn their names.

Professor McGonagall was handing out schedules to the Gryffindors and Hermione was happy to see that she had Defense against the Dark arts first. She had noticed last night that Lupin was back, and she assumed he would be teaching this class, which made her, Ron and Harry extremely happy.

"Who do we have that class with?" asked Ron glazing over his schedule.

"Don't you know? This year we have all our classes with all the other houses since there are so few seventh years who came back," explained Hermione to both Ron and Harry.

"So that means we'll ALWAYS be with Slytherins?" Harry incredulously questioned while glaring at the Slythering table.

Hermione nodded his answer and none of them looked too happy about this fact.

After breakfast, the trio headed out class, and has Hermione had planned, they were amongst the first to arrive to class, even before Lupin.

"This year we will learn a few things that will appear on your N.E.W.T.s," explained Lupin, "along with a few other Defensive techniques we can use. We will be dealing with muggle-like techniques called camouflage and spying, which we will of course use magic, along with learning Occlumency and Legilimency."

At these words, Hermione was very excited. She had seen a few spy movies with her family, and had always been interested about learning Occlumency, which Harry had said was impossible.

"You will also be assigned a partner with which you will work all year. There will be times when the two of you will switch bodies, and also times when you need someone to practice with. This partner will be used to these devices. The partners will remain hidden from the rest of the class, as not to affect some of the assignments we will be doing, and I expect no one to divulge who their partner is," Lupin continued.

At the mention of partners, a few people tried to make eye contact, which Lupin noticed. He smiled and went on with the details of the year. "The partners will be chosen by this Urn." He pulled out a large yellow vase from under his desk and showed it to the class. Hermione immediately recognized what this was, a _Calix Capax_.

"Does anyone know what this Urn does?" Lupin questioned the class. Hermione raised her hand and looked around to see if anyone had recognized this. The class mostly looked puzzled, but Malfoy seemed to know what it was, although he decided not to raise his hand.

"Hermione?"

"It is a _Calix Capax_, it is is designed to accept any type of information given, and categorize it in the most appropriate way for the demanded properties and number of object to a group," recited Hermione, who had obviously absorbed the information from a group.

As she looked around everyone still looked puzzled.

"Very well Hermione, but for the rest of you, who obviously did not understand that by the look on your face, you will all put your names on a piece of paper, and I will ask the urn to sort you by pairs that will gain the most from each other in this experience, and it will do just that, sort you into most compatible pairs," explained Lupin. Everyone seemed to understand this explanation better. "So I will ask each of you to write your name down on a piece of paper and place it in the _Calix Capax_."

Everyone followed his orders and he collected all the names with a flick of his wand.

"Very well, now as you can see behind me are a few doors. Behind those doors are magically sealed rooms that will prevent any noise from escaping, although I will tell you, if you do something in those room that is inappropriate, such as dueling with your partner, the room will tell me, and I will break it up, and offer you detention," he smiled. Hermione clearly hoped that she would not be partnered with someone who would fight with her, as she obviously did not want to ruin her chances at perfect scores.

"The first unit will appear on the board, along with a few tips and a tentative schedule. You must also know, that from now until in about two weeks, when we will be ready to try the first actual experiment, this two hour class will be divided into lecture, for about one hour, and partnering for the other." And with that, he waved his want- writing appearing on the black board in the front of the room.

Hermione quickly copied down:

_Unit 1: being able to impersonate someone, so as not to raise suspicion._

_ You will have two weeks to learn as much as you can about your partner, then, for one full day, you will switch body with him or her, and try your best to have no one notice._

_ The grading of this will be explained, but you must know that a part of your grade will be based on how well your partner does._

_ We will learn about camouflages, and spying, including the poly-juice potion and the disillusionment charm._

Hermione had quickly finished copying, and was nervous to find out her grade would be based on another person's doing.

After everyone finished copying the first unit, the words on the board erased, and Lupin held the _Calix Capax _in front of him and spoke softly to it. Hermione knew he would be telling it to choose the most appropriate partners.

"Since the partnership is meant to remain secret, the Urn will choose partners and I will magically seal those partners so that when you walk through one of the doors behind me, you will end up in the same room than your partner," Lupin explained. "In the rooms you will find an assignment sheet of what you are to discuss with your partner today. It is not particularly difficult, you are just to get to know each other a little better for the coming work you will be doing, which I will explain in due time. Try to follow what the assignment says, although you can go further than that if you wish."

Hermione automatically thought that she would want to do more, and hoped her partner was willing.

"Please go to a door, and enter it," Lupin demanded of them.

Everyone stood up, slightly nervous.

"Good Luck," Harry told Hermione as he walked to a door next to hers.

"Thanks, you too."

Then Hermione pushed her door open and walk inside before closing it. She was extremely surprised to see the beautiful tan colored room, with a comfy looking couch and several armchairs. She also noticed the fire burning in the corner of the room. But what surprised her most was the classmate she was facing.

**A/N: Finally getting into the story. Remember this is my first FanFic, so let me know what you think**


	4. New Partnership

**Chp 4:**

**The New Partnership**

"Granger!"

"Malfoy!"

"I'm partnered with you? Great," exclaimed Malfoy.

"This cannot be happening! You better not ruin my chances at a perfect score!" said Hermione, barely able to control her anger and uneasiness with the situation. She couldn't be partnered with Malfoy, they had nothing in common. The only common attribute he had with her was the fact that they had both survived the war. He was still an arrogant prick who walked in rooms like he owned the place.

"Don't worry, little miss-know-it-all, I want a passing grade as much as you. Well, maybe not as much," he sneered at his own comment, "but enough to try to make this work."

It was true. Draco did care about his grades. He always had, even if he didn't show it as much as Granger, he cared about school.

"So, what do we do now?" Hermione eyed him suspiciously. She wasn't sure she believed he would genuinely try to make this work.

"I have an idea, how about we make a truce, only in this room. In here we are two partners who will try to achieve their goals, out there," he said pointing to the door, "we go back to hating each other."

Hermione thought that over, and could not believe that he had reached this conclusion so quickly. She had thought that they would have to argue for several hours, and that Lupin might have had to intervene, but she had to admit that she thought the idea was fairly good.

She held out her hand. "Deal."

"Deal." Malfoy took her hand, not seeming too disgusted, and shook it.

"So we should go on with the assignment then," Hermione proposed, looking slightly awkward.

She picked up the sheet of paper in front of her, and glanced at Malfoy noticing he was mirroring her. She read over the instructions and realized this was a questionnaire they were supposed to discuss together. She looked over at a few of the questions on her sheet, and then peeked over at Malfoy's sheet. She noticed the questions were different.

"Why do we have different questions on the sheets?" Hermione wondered out loud.

"Probably because they are personalized. I can't believe he is making us get to know each other better. This better be worth it." Hermione noticed Malfoy's foul tone and slid her hand in her back pocket where she knew her wand was. She would never admit to anyone that she was intimidated by Malfoy, but having the presence of her wand reassured her because she knew that he would fall to her jinxes as much as anyone else.

The new partners sat in an awkward silence for a while until Hermione decided to break the ice. She looked at her list of questions to ask Malfoy and started with the first one: "What is your favorite type of food?" Hermione thought this was an easy one, so she didn't feel anxious about his answer and what she might learn.

Malfoy sat in thought for a while. He didn't really know what his favorite food was. He had always been forced to eat whatever was given to him without complaining. There were a few he hated that he could name. Stuff cauliflower was definitely of his most hated meals. Then he remembered when he was young: "I would have to say a chocolate fondue. I remember one night when I was young, my parents were gone, and Icind, one of our house-elves, was keeping an eye on me. I really wanted candy, and she told me there was better. She pulled out a pot, melted chocolate, and gave me fruits and cookies to dip in the chocolate. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted. It was so sweet, so…" At that moment he had looked up and realized he was still talking to Granger, so he stopped mid-sentence slightly embarrassed at being so happy about such a childish thing as chocolate.

Hermione had realized Malfoy was embarrassed because his usually pure white face was slightly tinged with pink. She smiled to herself, but didn't push the subject.

The thick, uncomfortable silence was back.

It took a few minutes for Malfoy to finally read his first question: "What is your favorite board game?"

At this Hermione remembered all the nights she used to play board games with her parents.

"When I was young, before we knew I was a witch," at this she looked at Malfoy to see if he would make any remarks on this, but he didn't, so she continued, "I would always be really good at rolling dice. Now that I know I'm magical, I'm pretty sure it was my magic that rolled the dice how I wanted, but back then I just thought I had talent. So therefore I usually won when we played games involving dice. My favorite game as a child I would say was _Snakes and Ladders_."

At this Malfoy snickered and added: "And yet, you're in Gryffindor, lions and snakes don't get along."

When Hermione realized what she had said, it was too late and she blushed profusely looking anywhere but at the Slytherin across from her.

The questions went on with no particularly embarrassing moment, until the question about friendship was asked. Both were asked the question of who was their best friend. Both Draco and Hermione had to think this question through.

"I would have to say Blaise is my best friend, because he's pretty much the only friend I have, but we aren't that close anymore." Hermione felt saddened by Malfoy's comment. How could he be so popular and have no friends? Although she had to admit he wasn't as popular anymore, and it was true she had never seen him with real friends, Crabbe and Goyle were always following him around, but she wasn't sure that Malfoy was actually friends with them.

"And I would have to say I cannot pick one person as my best friend. Harry is obviously my best friend because he would do anything for me and I can talk to him about anything and he would understand. Ron is also my best friend because we have a bond I could share with no one else, he makes me smile when I'm sad, yet sometimes he makes me so angry that everything else that happens to me seems like nothing. And Ginny is Ginny, she'll Hex anyone who tries to hurt me, and I have great talks with her. So I can't pick one." Hermione knew she shouldn't be sharing this much with a Slytherin, but after all, that was what the assignment was about.

As they finished the questionnaire, they sat still in the couch is the odd little room. They looked around them ignoring each other as resolutely as possible, but every so often sneaking sly glances at each other. Suddenly Draco spoke: "I think that whatever is said in here shouldn't be repeated outside these walls. Since no one knows we are partners this will be easier, but I still want to make sure you are on the same page as me."

Hermione nodded, "Completely agreed. What happens in this room stays in this room." At these words, Hermione smiled, remembering a movie she had once seen at her house on TV.

They looked at each other and nodded. Little did they know that this agreement would soon be jeopardized because of the assignments they would have.

After another few minutes of silence, Lupin's voice resounded about them, and both Draco and Hermione jumped from their seats.

"You may all leave your rooms from the same way you entered, as to not show to anyone who you were partnered with, then, you are dismissed."

Hermione stood up first. "Talk to you next time" she smiled and left.

Draco also stood up, looking at Granger leave, feeling happy this nonsense was over, but also feeling slightly lonely. He walked back through the door he had walked in from.

Hermione was out of the room and looked around for Harry and Ron. When she finally spotted them, neither looked like they had been fighting, yet they didn't look too happy.

"What was he thinking having us ask such embarrassing questions?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry and Hermione both nodded, although Hermione didn't think this was as bad as both boys made it out to be, yet she was sure she was stuck with the worse person to be stuck with. She knew the _Calix Capax_ had made the best choice for her to learn more this year, since even though she didn't like admitting it, Malfoy was quite smart and would probably challenge her more than Harry or Ron could.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Also thanks to my Beta Madi for her awesome reviewing. Please let me know what you're thinking.**


	5. To Lie or Not to Lie

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Sorry every one for the extremely long wait. I actually had this chapter written up, but I just hadn't put it up yet. I don't however have the next chapters yet. This wait is unexcuseable, I agree, but I will try to update more often if I can. Please read and Review and I will try to make the next chapter even better.**

**To Lie or Not to Lie**

As the weeks rolled on, the seventh year homework seemed to get harder and harder . Hermione had never been so often in the library, and that was saying something since everyone thought she had moved in years ago. Every teacher assigned them mounds of work, except Professor Lupin. He, of course, assigned them homework but it was of a much easier variety. As far as Hermione was concerned, reading muggle detective novels wasn't homework, it was relaxation.

The class had been going on for a few weeks now, with the first hour discussing some type of spying, Professor Lupin had even been able to bring in a TV, and they had watched James Bond. Very few students had known what a TV was, only the muggle-borns, and Harry had ever seen one. Everyone had freaked out when they saw what it did, but most were fascinated by it. Professor Dumbledore and Lupin had worked on it for several days to make it work magically, since there was no electricity at Hogwarts, but finally it was functioning. The second hour still involved each pair splitting away from the main body of the class, trying the methods they had been taught.

Last DADA class, Professor Lupin had told them that this class was going to be particularly difficult and interesting, so all the seventh year Gryffindors were extremely excited.

"What do you think we'll do?" Ron asked during lunch hour.

"Maybe watch a better film," Harry commented.

Hermione looked at him, "I don't think so, we have already seen one. Why would he tell us we'd be doing something exciting if we were just watching a film?"

"You're only saying that because you think watching TV is a waste of time," replied Harry.

"Not true, I've just already seen _all_ the James Bond with my dad, at least three times each, since he loves them. I just feel that watching them is not educational."

"Exactly!"

The bell rang for the end of lunch, and the trio got up from the table and walked towards the DADA classroom. When they arrived at the classroom, a few students were already seated but the rest were filing in with them.

As they walked in the room, Hermione saw a machine with an ink filled needle, and a roll of paper.

Harry saw it too. "Is that a-"

"Lie Detector, I think so, yeah," Hermione finished his sentence.

Professor Lupin walked in, and everyone sat down quietly.

"Does anyone know what this is?" asked Professor Lupin?

Hermione's hand shot straight up in the air, but she was not the only one to raise her hand, Harry, Dean, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and a few other students around the room also raised their hands.

"Dean, can you tell us what this device is and what it does?"

"This is a lie detector, it records your heartbeat, and if there is an abnormality, it will detect it."

"Very good. So as you can all guess, this means that we will be working on tricking this lie detector. This is a muggle device, it is not foolproof. Unlike the Veritaserum, this can be tricked into believing you are telling the truth. You are all probably wondering how this will help you", he looked around and saw a few heads nodding. "This device will help you control your body not to react when you are lying, you must be lying while believing it is the truth, as to make it more believable for the listener. This will be extremely useful in the next assignment I will hand out at the end of class, although it won't start until next week. This, of course, will not help you fight against Legilimency, but it will make someone you are just talking to believe what you are saying. So this time with your partner, you will have to lie, and trick both your partner and the device."

At this Hermione looked around the room; she saw that Neville was really nervous, but also noticed Malfoy smirking. She was sure he knew how to lie and make it sound convincing, but she truly hoped he would not be able to pass a lie detector test.

"Please all go to your practice rooms and follow the instruction sheet provided," Professor Lupin asked, his posture leaving no room for arguments

Hermione walked in the room at the same time than Malfoy. Both sat down on their usual spots on the couch. Hermione picked up the only instruction sheet, and read it aloud:

_One__at__a__time,__you__will__be__submitted__to__the__lie__detector.__You__will__sit__in__the__chair__in__the__corner__while__your__partner__connects__you__up__to__the__device.__The__first__few__questions__that__will__be__asked__will__be__about__your__name,__age,__and__sex,__answer__them__correctly__to__verify__that__the__machine__is__working.__Then__purposefully__answer__incorrectly__to__see__if__the__machine__can__pick__up__this.__Once__this__works__properly,__you__may__start__the__first__part__of__the__assignment._

_**Part one: **_

_This is to test how well one can distinguish lies. The person asking the question will ask a series of questions (about 5)written beforehand, while the partner will answer either correctly or incorrectly, although there must be a few of each. The questioner will mark on their paper whether they think it was the truth or not. At the end of the questions, the questioner will look at the lie detector and see if they correctly distinguished between lie and truth._

_**Part two:**_

_This is to beat the lie detector. The questioner will ask the same questions, and the questionee must answer the same answer while trying to not make the lie detector pick it up. This will be harder and will require work and a few tries. If after three tries, the questionee was unsuccessful, switch positions and try the same process the other way._

_When both have finished, if either was unsuccessful at fooling the lie detector, keep working on it until the end of class._

"Did you get that?" Hermione asked Malfoy.

"I guess, it shouldn't be too hard . . . for me. I'm a great liar!"

_Go__figure_, thought Hermione. "So do you want start, you almighty liar," Hermione said with as much sarcasm as she could manage.

Draco nodded and walked over to the chair in the corner and sat down.

Hermione took a parchment and a quill out and started jotting down questions. Finding questions was particularly hard, but she finally came up with five. When she glanced at Malfoy, she saw him sigh and look extremely bored.

"You know, you could have come up with questions at this time too," Hermione commented.

He looked at her absentmindedly, and went back to looking around the room, until he finally decided to examine the muggle machine. It looked odd to him, and he was sure it wouldn't work. Muggle things never work, well except the _Tevelision_, that weird box Lupin had brought in. He would never say so out loud, but that thing was pretty cool. When he left home, and his father was not present to control his every move, he would certainly invest in one.

"Ok, so let's hook you up to the lie detector."

"What! _Hook_me up? Hooks are for fishes and pirates!" Draco exclaimed with a slight nervousness in his tone.

Hermione smiled at his distress, "Don't worry, it is not a real hook. It is just a manner of speaking. I only have to clamp this," she held a small finger clamp, one often seen at the hospital, "to your finger and it will pick up your pulse."

Draco looked at her strangely but nodded in relief none the less.

"Hold out your hand."

Draco did as he was told, and Hermione gently grabbed his hand. He couldn't help the shiver he felt at her touch, but shoved it off, not sure of what it meant. Hermione was fairly surprised by the heat of his hand. She had always assumed he would have very cold skin. She had also felt the tingling sensation, and started blushing. Luckily he wasn't looking at her, so she proceeded with the clamping and dropped his hand when she was done.

"All set! Now let's start this. First, the basic questions."

This went on for a while. The machine was working well, and they could both distinguish between a truth and a lie. So Hermione started asking one of her 5 questions she had come up with and wrote down his answer:

_**1)**__**What**__**was**__**your**__**favorite**__**book**__**as**__**a**__**child?**__ "__I__would__have__to__say__Which__Witch__Will__Win__.__It__was__about__two__sisters__who__both__wanted__the__gold__necklace.__" _**Note:****It****seems****to****be****the****truth.****Although****highly****improbable****so****it****might****be****a****lie.**

_**2)****Who****did****you****actually****expect****to****win****the****war?**"The Dark Lord, although I hoped he wouldn't"_

**Note:****Seems****sincere.****His****body****reactions****are****genuine.**

_**3)****Who****was/is****your****favorite****teacher,****other****than****Snape?**"Lupin."_

**Note:****Must****be****a****lie,****he****hated****Lupin.**

_**4)****After****you****finish****this****year,****what****do****you****plan****on****doing****with****your****life?**"probably manage my dad's company, which pretty much means, do nothing."_

**Note:****Sounds****about****right.**

_**5)**__**What**__**is**__**your**__**favorite**__**pastime?**__"__Fly__a__broom.__"_**Note:****this****answer****seems****to****be****most****truthful****most****honest****answer****said****yet.**

Hermione looked at her paper, and thought it was about right.

"So, I'm saying the answers were: True, True, False, True, True."

Malfoy looked at her with a smirk, "I thought you would have been better than that. We need to work on your lie detecting skills."

Hermione felt annoyed by the fact that she was wrong, but went to pick up the lie detector answers.

"True, False, True, False, True." She gaped at the answers. "Lupin was your favorite, after Snape, How?"

Draco looked startled by that question, he had expected her to ask about the Dark Lord first. "Umm, well… He's actually a good teacher. I was only mean to him because he always favored Potter. Gryffindors like him, and I can't have people think I have the same tastes as The Chosen One."

Hermione considered that for a moment, and then nodded. "So are you going to explain the rest of your answers?"

"No, there are no instructions on that."

The duo went on with their work. Malfoy was actually getting good at tricking the lie detector, once he understood it picked up on his heartbeat. Hermione, on the other hand, could not get the hang of it. The lie detector would catch her lie every time.

"Arg! Why can't I trick it?" she finally exclaimed out of frustration.

"Because you know you're lying. You have to believe the lies you are saying. It's simple, believe that your parents are drug dealers, and your heart won't speed up. So once again, let's try it, ready?"

Hermione concentrated really hard on her parents, and tried to imagine them dealing drugs. It was an absurd thought, but she willed herself to see it as a possibility. She finally nodded to Malfoy.

"So, what do your muggle parents do for a living?"

"They are drug dealers," Hermione answered in the calmest, most believable tone.

Malfoy looked at her impressed, "If I didn't know it was a lie, I would actually believe you. I'll check if the lie detector believes you too." He walked over to the results and looked at the latest question. The needle had not gone crazy, the heartbeat was steady. He smiled at Granger, "You did it, Granger. You fooled the lie detector," he happily said. Then realizing that he had maybe sounded too positive, he added, "finally."

Hermione scolded him for a second before completely beaming at her accomplishment. They had been at it for the last hour. She had fooled a muggle lie detector. She was unsure whether that would ever be helpful in the magical world, but it didn't matter, since that was the assignment, and she finished it.

The two of them sat back down on the couch, and silently waited for the end of class. Both were thinking about what they had learned about each other, and wondering what this assignment meant.

Finally remembering what Lupin had said earlier, Draco questioned, "What do you think our next assignment will be?"

The two of them spent the last 15 minutes of class discussing possible assignments, simply talking like they had done that all their lives.

Finally, Lupin's voice was heard overhead, "Please return to the classroom, I have your next assignment sheet."

All students were finally seated in the DADA classroom waiting for instruction.

"This next assignment will take the month for the whole class to complete. At randomly, pre-arranged days, you and your partner will drink polyjuice potion and exchange lives for one whole day. We will take a week to prepare before anyone starts."

The bell resounded about.

"I'll give out all the details next class. You are dismissed."

Hermione glanced around the class and gave Draco a small smile before turning back to Harry and Ron, who were discussing this weird assignment. It was both exciting and terrifying.

"Can you believe that on day next month, one of us will not be us. What if we say something we shouldn't in front of strangers?" Ron wondered aloud.

"Well I guess we'll have to be careful on our timing and conversations for a while," Harry answered wisely.

And with that they walked out to the common room together, anticipating next class.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hey guys. I've uploaded. Yay. Thank-you all of those who reviewed and added me to your alerts. It makes me very happy. This chapter is pretty long and I hope it is up to your expectation.

Well enjoy it.

**Chp 6: The Polyjuice**

After the week of preparation for their DADA assignment, everyone was given the date of their "body exchanges". They were strictly told not to share this date with anyone because if people noticed it wasn't them and reported it to Professor Lupin, then each pair would lose points.

Hermione definitely not wanting that was extremely careful on not divulging anything to her two best friends.

In their preparatory week, each student was to learn how to act like their partner and how they reacted to certain situations. They were also given special passwords for the common room for that particular day, and all the teachers were informed of which dates people switched in case tests were given that week.

Hermione and Draco had spent the whole week learning even more about each other. Hermione had learned how to treat Crabbe and Goyle and what to actually say to people when she was Malfoy. She also had to learn the famous smirk. Draco had to practice raising his hand at every question asked. Luckily, he was as smart as Hermione, and didn't have to study answers to everything, he just had to learn to recite them as if from a book. He also had to comprehend the relationship between Harry, Ron and Hermione, which he found particularly awkward. He knew they were best friends, but never having a best friend himself, he wasn't sure on how to act around them. Also the fact they the two were boys and Granger was a girl had him slightly perplexed on the real nature of their relationship. He could never be best friends with a girl and not have some sexual tension present.

Hermione and Draco's date were set on November 12th, they had two more weeks until that fateful day.

…

Hermione woke up with a start this morning. She couldn't believe it was the 12th, already. She had been hoping this day would never come, yet she was still excited for it. She quickly got dressed, put some extra clothes in her backpack, and ran down to a pre-arranged empty classroom Malfoy and her had decided on.

When she arrived, he was already there and had already prepared the two cups of polyjuice potion as well as the changing screen. He greeded her with a nod and handed her a pile of his clothes to wear.

"Good morning. And thank-you," said Hermione. "Here are clothes for you."

She handed him a pile of clothes as well.

They both stood there for a couple of minutes in an awkward silence. Neither really wanted to do this. It would be weird. Yet both wanted good grades, so they had to.

"Should we proceed then?" Draco asked.

"I guess." Hermione then pulled out a piece of her hair. Draco did the same thing. They put it in the cup then exchanged them. Draco's potion turned to silver while Hermione's turned to a golden color.

"That looks a lot better than Goyle's," Hermione proclaimed.

"What?" Draco looked at her suspiciously. "When would you have seen polyjuice potion with Goyle's hair in it?"

Hermione's cheeks turned red.

"Uhm… I was just assuming you would.?" She said with a slight questioning in her tone.

"Granger, didn't we practice your lying? Could you at least try to be convincing when you lie. And hadn't you noticed I could pretty much detect any lie, so don't lie to me!"

Hermione looked away slightly embarrassed but kept her mouth shut nonetheless.

"OK, let's take this now and get this day over with, you agree?"

Hermione nodded. They both took the goblet they were to drink, and went to opposite side of the changing screen. Within a few minutes both were standing back in front of each other but in the other person's body.

Hermione was looking at herself. She was a lot taller than she was used to. The hair on her head was so short it was weird.

Malfoy was smirking at her. It looked weird on her face.

"What are you smirking at?"

"I'm considering everything I could do with this body today…" He answered with a glint in her eye.

"You better not do anything inappropriate or I will hurt you badly."

"Yeah, like I'm scared of you."

"You're forgetting two things Malfoy, first that punch I gave you third year," he did look a little scared, "and secondly that I am in your body, hence stronger then I was then."

At these words, Malfoy stopped smirking and just looked at her.

"I guess I won't be inappropriate," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "So let's just get on with our day. What's the Gryffindor's password for today?"

"Lion's Den. Slytherin's?"

"Serpentes."

Hermione nodded then they both left through the door going in the direction of the other's common room.

Hermione walked to the Slytherin's common room, following the path Malfoy had given her, walking as tall as she could, she said the password to the dungeon and walked in. As she walked in, she saw a few people staring at her and then Pansy running towards her and attaching herself to her neck. Luckily Malfoy had warned her about this.

"Pansy just go away I don't want to see you now," Hermione said sternly to Pansy. Pansy smiled upon hearing the now and replied, "Ok, I'll wait 'till later," before walking away. Hermione hoped that the _Later_ would be tomorrow when she was back in her own body.

Hermione then went to the room she was taught was Malfoy's to grab his school stuff for the day, then went up to breakfast.

She sat down at the breakfast table next to Crabbe and Goyle,

"Good morning guys," she said to the cheerfully. When they stared at her she realized her mistake. She was not to talk to them unless necessary, and was never to be nice. She then glared at them as if they had been the one to make a mistake, and hope they would not notice she wasn't Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle looked away from her glare and just kept eating.

Hermione ate all her breakfast in silence. She started to feel quite lonely. Never had she eaten a breakfast alone. At this she felt something in her stomach turn. _Could I be feeling bad for the ferret?_ She thought. _Don't call him that, he's not that bad anymore. Wait did I just say he wasn't bad. He totally is! Except when we're in the room, he's been pretty civil to me. _Hermione was quite confused by her thoughts. She then felt eyes looking at her and looked up to the Gryffindor's table.

….

Draco was on his way to the Gryffindor's common room. He needed to drop the extra clothes off, and get Granger's school bag. He arrived at the fat lady portrait, gave the password and went up to Hermione's room. There he grabbed her bag and was rushing down the stairs. He was about to leave back through the portrait hole when he heard:

"Hermione why are you in such a rush?"

It was the weasel talking. Darn it, he had hoped to meet no one on the way to breakfast.

"Classes will start soon I have to go We—Ron." Draco answered.

"We don't have classes for another hour, we've got some time. Let me go get Harry, and we'll come with you."

"Ok." Draco sat down in one of the chairs. This was going to be his first real test. How was he going to talk to them without being mean? He had to act friendly, even laugh at their jokes. His worst nightmare in any case.

They got down to breakfast relatively fast and without too much talking in any case, and they sat down at the Gryffindor's table.

"How'd you sleep Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Well, I guess."

It was silent for a few seconds. A very uncomfortable silence for Draco, but the other two did not seem to notice. He finally broke the silence, "How about you?"

"It was good. I had the best dream ever. I was flying …" Draco zoned out on the rest of Harry's story and stared at nothing in particular. This is when he saw himself walking into the great Hall. It was very weird to see this.

"Hermione? Hermione have you heard a word of what I've said?" demanded Harry.

Draco shook his head, then turned to look at Harry. "What were you saying?"

"I was wondering why you were staring at Malfoy?" Harry asked suspiciously. Ron was also looking very unhappy about it. Draco was very confused by this question, until he remembered he wasn't himself today. So he hurried to answer: " Uhmm, because he is such a git."

Both Harry and Ron seemed satisfied with his answer.

"He is a git," Harry confirmed. "I'm finally happy you came back to our side of this argument."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"Well, haven't you been the one telling us all year that Malfoy wasn't that bad anymore, and that he hadn't insulted us since before the war. Weren't you just telling us yesterday that we should try not being so mean to him, that he's had a hard time too?" Harry answered while Ron nodded with his mouthful.

Draco started at Harry as he was speaking. _I can't believe Granger would try to defend me in front of Scar-head and the Weasel .Why would she do such a thing. It's true I haven't insulted her this year, but I haven't been particularly nice to her. Have I? Maybe I have. I didn't want her to hate me anymore. But why would I do such a thing?_ At this he looked up to where "he" was sitting at the Slytherin table. Almost at the same moment, Hermione looked up. Their eyes met for a few second. That was a moment Draco would not soon forget, since it was the moment he realized he didn't was Granger to be his enemy anymore. He finally realized she was more than a mudblood. She was the one who defended him in front of her friends. She had always tried being nice to him too during their practice times.

…..

The rest of the day passed without any problems. Neither Draco nor Hermione were being suspicious. Everyone believed it to be them. At the end of the day they exchanged clothes again and regained their bodies. Both were pretty sure that they had passed this project. Yet when they were changing back into their clothes, in the same empty classroom they had been in this morning, neither spoke. Both were still rummaging over what they had felt during the day.

**A/N**: I'm back. I know this story is going somewhat slow, but I have a few cool things already planned out. so don't worry, they'll get together eventually.

Please Review. It would make me happy.

Also I don't know when I'll update next because I'm going to Mexico for Thanksgiving, and I don't have internet there, plus I've got like 5 tests the week after, so I for sure wont update for at least two weeks, so please don't get mad at me.


	7. What has Dumbledore Concocted now?

**A/N: Sorry for the wait but here is a new chapter. These past few weeks have been busy, and starting Friday is Finals week, so that will also be crazy. I don't know when i'll upload, but I've had ideas for the next chapter for a while, I just need to get there. Well enjoy the story.**

**Chap 7: What has Dumbledore concocted now?**

The next few weeks passed without too much trouble. Both Hermione and Draco were slightly confused by what had happened that day, but since the finals were to start soon, they both pushed it to the end of their minds.

This morning, Hermione was eating breakfast with Ron and Harry. They were having a normal conversation, one that involved Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch and Hermione not really paying attention, when Dumbledore stood up from the teacher's table.

"I would like all sixth and Seventh grades to stay after breakfast."

Hermione was puzzled by this, it had never happened that they had been asked to miss the beginning of their first class. A small buzz went through the room as people excitedly tried to decide what Dumbledore wanted to talk to them about.

After everyone had finished eating and the rest of the students had left for class, the great hall became very quiet. After a few minutes, Dumbledore stood up. He peered over his half-moon spectacles at all the students sitting quietly in front of him, and started talking: "Hello to you all. I would like to inform you that after the fall of the dark lord, the ministry has requested for a special muggle integration to be made. The ministry believes this will help prevent witches and wizards from thinking they are much better than muggles. I believe that this project could also help all of you become more rounded individuals. The non-magical world has a lot to offer and can do quite a few remarkable things without magic. Thus, we have agreed to the ministry's request and have prepared a project for you."

A few people in the hall looked excited, a few just stressed by the extra work that would probably be assigned, and the rest just started at him with anticipation of what he would say next.

"Do not worry about this affecting the rest of your school work, because it shouldn't. The other professors and I have come up with a perfect opportunity to mix with the muggles while still having fun. You will all be going on a 2 week muggle cruise to the Caribbean Island over Christmas Break!"

At this a few people were quite excited by this, especially the ones who had grown up in the muggle world, which of course included both Hermione and Harry. While the rest of the hall were quite perplexed about this arrangement.

Dumbledore continued: "You will not be graded on this cruise, but you must know that a few of the professors will also be present in case of a problem. You are not to use magic unless your life or the life of another is in danger. If magic is needed but it is not a direct emergency, get one of your professors to assist you. You will also have double cabins, which means you need to choose a roommate. Your roommate does not have to be one of your dorm mates or even in your house, he/she only has to be of the same gender as you. You will take a plane together to the Island of Puerto Rico where you will board the cruise ship. I hope you will have fun, and also plan to take summer clothes as I expect it to be hot on this cruise. You may all make your way to class now."

The following weekend was busy for the sixth and seventh year as they were allowed to go clothes shopping in Hogsmade. The clothe shop there had been informed that they needed muggle clothing for the students and therefore obtained a new shipment of clothes and hired muggleborns for the occasion to help dress the young witches and wizards that had not grown up in the muggle world.

Hermione and Harry were helping Ginny and Ron pick out clothes. Neither knew how to look muggle all the time. Sure, they wore jeans and were fine with them, but they always had something off, like the fact that Ron would not buy a T-shirt with a soccer ball on it because it looked like a deformed cow. At this both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing.

Hermione was wondering off in the store thinking how she definitely needed some clothes since she hadn't brought summer clothes from home, when she ran into someone. Someone quite tall and handsome actually, but she would never admit that.

"Granger."

"Malfoy," Hermione answered Malfoy. Then she noticed he was totally confused on what to buy since he was holding very girly pants with shiny flowers. "Would you like help buying muggle clothes, you seem to be lost."

"ummm, I guess I would. I have no idea what muggles wear. I try to avoid muggles at all times. My father always said: 'better see a rat in the house than a muggle man'. So that means that my father has never left me near the company of muggles. And now I wish I knew a little bit more about them, as we'll be spending two weeks with them. So yes, Help me." He looked at her pleadingly although he would never beg her to help him, he still really needed the help.

"Ok, I guess. So first lets go find you pants." Hermione led him through the shop and helped him choose a few pairs of pants and shirts. No one noticed the two interacting as everyone was too busy buying their own outfits.

At the end of the day, Draco found himself in the Slytherin common room with classy muggle clothes joking with Blaise at his choice of a pink T-shirt and shorts that were not supposed to be worn by men. Blaise had some acceptable clothes, but he didn't understand how Draco could have gotten clothes that looked that good.

"Well, I'm just that talented," said Draco.

"Sure you are, so are you rooming with me, or did you find someone that could occupy your time better?"

"Of Course I'm rooming with you, do you think I'd want to hear Crabbe or Goyle snort all night?"

At the same time in the Gryffindor common room:

"Were rooming together, right?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Of course we are. So did you find all your clothes you needed?"

"Yeah, you were there, although I do remember not seeing you for a while, where were you?"

"In the shop looking for some clothes for … me," Hermione answered slightly hesitantly, but Ginny just brushed it off as nothing.

**A/N: I know that was a short chapter, but I didn't want to include the cruise here, that will be the next chapter. I hadn't realized how reviewing other stories was important until I got my own reviews. Reviewing is very important to an author, it helps me realize that someone is actually reading this, and enjoying it. It gives me a reason to write it down instead of playing it only in my head. I'm also happy with constructive critisms. I can only improve if I know what is wrong.**

**I promise I'll try to upload soon. I will most likely have another chapter before Christmas.**


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